Development and transformation of social structures
Civilization: Olmecs in Mesoamerica
Name: Priscilla Fernandez
Theme
How does this theme apply to your civilization?
Gender roles and relations
When it came to rituals, Maya rulers and their family members regularly spilled their own blood by opening wounda. Men drew blood from the penis and women usually drew from the tongue.
Family and kinship
none
Racial and ethnic constructions
Mesoamerican life quickened with constructions of temples, pyramids, and palaces.* Colossal Olmec heads were constructed from Basal rock and were thought to possibly be likeness of rulers.* The temple of the Giant Jaguar represented Tikal's control over the surrounding region.
Social and economic classes
Several Mesoamerican societies adopted several Olmec traditions such as cultivating maize and maintaining a calendar.
Mayan merchants came from ruling and noble classes.
Large classes of peasants and slaves fed the entire society and provided labor for constructions.
Development and transformation of social structures
Civilization: Olmecs in Mesoamerica
Name: Priscilla Fernandez